6
11
COMPATIBILITY
Portable Flashes and Studio Strobe Lights
Cactus V5 works with all portable flashes and strobes with triggering
voltage between 0V - 300V, and equipped with any of the following
connection interfaces:
Cactus V5 is
not compatible
with reverse polarity flashes and some
dedicated flash models, as indicated in
Notes on Dedicated Flash
below.
Notes on Dedicated Flash:
Cactus V5 does not transmit TTL information.
Connecting Cactus V5 transceiver to a flash with a Sony Alpha
style hot shoe requires an optional hot shoe adapter (i.e. the
“FS-1200 hot shoe adapter”).
Some dedicated flashes (e.g. Nissin Di-622 and Di-466, Sunpak
PZ42x and PZ30, Sigma EF-530/500 DG ST for Canon, etc.) are
triggered via system-specific pins instead of the central hot shoe
contact. Cactus V5 does not work with these flash models. To
check whether your dedicated flash unit is compatible with
Cactus V5, try attaching the flash unit to a camera of another
brand (e.g. attaching a Nikon TTL flash to a Canon DSLR camera).
If the flash can be triggered, it will work with Cactus V5.
!
1.
2.
3.
Cameras
Cactus V5 works with practically all SLR and DSLR cameras. This
includes all cameras that come with (1) a standard ISO hot shoe,
and/or (2) a female sync port connection.
Other Flash Triggers
Each Cactus V5 unit is designed to work exclusively with other Cactus
V5 units. It is
NOT
compatible with any other flash trigger, including
Cactus V2, V2s and V4.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Before reading this section, ensure that Cactus V5 transceivers have
been set up correctly (follow the instructions in the
Operation
section
of this manual).
If the problem persists after conducting the troubleshooting steps,
contact your seller directly for further assistance.
1. Flash Misfire (Unexpected Flash Firing)
Poor hot shoe connection
Background radio
interference
Adjust tightness of hot shoe
contact
Remove hot shoe metal plate
Clean hot shoe contact of V5
and flash with clean cloth
LED blinks?
TX: No
RX: No
TX: No
RX: Yes (GREEN)
Possible Cause
Solution
Set both transceivers to
another channel
Change setup location as
interference may come from
other equipment in the
surrounding area
Place the TX and RX
transceivers at least one meter
apart and retry
1.
TX and RX transceivers are
placed too close to each
other
2.
2. Slow Synchronization (Delayed Flash)
Insufficient battery power
Adjust the camera’s shutter
speed to the maximum
supported x-sync speed
LED blinks?
TX: Yes (GREEN)
RX: Yes (GREEN)
TX or RX: Yes
(RED every 3 secs)
Possible Cause
Solution
Ensure flash trigger transceivers
are set to a different channel
from that used by wireless
shutter release transceivers
Replace batteries and retry
Radio interference with
wireless shutter release
2.
Shutter speed is faster
than the camera’s x-sync
limitation
1.
Hot shoe
PC sync female
6.35mm port
3.5mm port
